BOSTON, MA--(Marketwire - September 10, 2007) - The First Marblehead Corporation (NYSE: FMD) today announced a planned securitization involving the purchase of private student loans and the related issuance of student loan asset-backed notes. The National Collegiate Funding LLC, the sponsor and depositor of the securitization, has filed with the Securities and
Exchange Commission a Free Writing Prospectus regarding this transaction.
The Company expects the transaction to close on or about September 20,
2007.

The private student loans were originated by several different banks under
various loan programs that were structured with the assistance of First
Marblehead. The securitization, which may be effected by one or more
trusts, is expected to raise approximately $2.8 billion from the sale of
asset-backed securities and involve the acquisition of private student
loans with a principal and accrued interest balance of approximately $2.04
billion. Approximately 81% of the loans to be purchased at closing are
expected to be "direct to consumer" loans, and the remaining 19% of the
loans to be purchased at closing will be "school channel" loans.

The loans are guaranteed by The Education Resources Institute, Inc. (TERI),
the nation's oldest and largest guarantor of private student loans. Ambac
Assurance Corporation is expected to issue a note guaranty insurance policy
in conjunction with the issuance of the notes.

About The First Marblehead Corporation. First Marblehead, a leader in
creating solutions for education finance, provides outsourcing services for
private, non-governmental, education lending in the United States. The
Company helps meet the growing demand for private education loans by
providing national and regional financial institutions and educational
institutions, as well as businesses and other enterprises, with an
integrated suite of design, implementation and securitization services for
student loan programs tailored to meet the needs of their respective
customers, students, employees and members.

The National Collegiate Funding LLC has filed a registration statement
(including a prospectus) with the Securities and Exchange Commission for
the offering to which this communication relates. Before you invest, you
should read the prospectus in that registration statement and other
documents that The National Collegiate Funding LLC has filed with the SEC
for more complete information about The National Collegiate Funding LLC,
the securitization transaction, the student loans and this offering. You
may obtain these documents free of charge through EDGAR on the SEC website
at www.sec.gov. Alternatively, The National Collegiate Funding LLC, any
underwriter or any dealer participating in the offering will arrange to
send you the prospectus if you request it by calling toll-free
1-800-831-9146.

Statements in this press release regarding the planned purchase of private
student loans and the related issuance of student loan asset-backed notes,
including statements regarding the size, timing, collateral pool
composition and structure of the planned transaction, as well as any other
statements that are not purely historical, constitute forward-looking
statements for purposes of the safe harbor provisions of the Private
Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These forward-looking statements
are based on our plans, estimates and expectations as of September 10,
2007. The inclusion of this forward-looking information should not be
regarded as a representation by us or any other person that the future
results, plans, estimates or expectations contemplated by us will be
achieved. You are cautioned that matters subject to forward-looking
statements involve known and unknown risks and uncertainties, including
economic, regulatory, competitive and other factors, which may cause the
terms of the actual transaction, or the timing of events, to be materially
different than those expressed or implied by forward-looking statements.
Important factors that could cause or contribute to such differences
include: investor response to the offering of the asset-backed securities,
including the size and structure of the offering and the terms of the
asset-backed notes; conditions in the financial markets, including the capital
markets generally and the student loan asset-backed securities sector
specifically; variance between the estimated and actual amount of private
student loans available for purchase; satisfaction of closing conditions
related to the purchase of private student loans and issuance of the
student loan asset-backed securities; and the other factors set forth under
the caption "Risk Factors" in the free writing prospectus filed by The
National Collegiate Funding LLC with the Securities and Exchange Commission
on September 10, 2007. We disclaim any obligation to update any
forward-looking statements as a result of developments occurring after the date of this press release.